Automatic weighing-machine.



No. 803,376. PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905. F. F. WEAR.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.28,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

ATTORNEY No. 803,376. PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905. F. F. WEAR.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OGT.28,1904.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

WITNESSES: lNl/E/VTOR By W 7% a Afro/mgr FRANK F. WEAR, OF SANFRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC WElGHlNG-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Batent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed October 28, 1904. Serial No. 230,314.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK F. IVEAR, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic WNeighing- Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improved automatic weighingmachine, theobject of the invention being to provide an apparatus of this kind whichshall be accurate, readily adjustable for weighing different quantitiesofmaterial, not liable to get out of order, and easily operated.

My invention therefore resides in the novel construction, combination,and arrangement of parts for the above ends hereinafter fully specified,and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of themachine. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the spout; Fig. 8 is avertical section thereof. F ig. t is a horizontal section thereof. Fig.5 is a detail vertical section of the equalizing-lever. Fig. 6 is asimilar view of the same in a different position. Fig. 7 is a detailview of the valvestem and finger. Fig. 8 is a similar view of the samein a different position. Fig. 9 is a vertical section of the bag-holder.Fig. 10 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 11 is a detail side view of theindex-pointer. Fig. 12 is a horizontal section showing said pointer inplan.

Upon a suitable base 1 are .erected diametrically opposite standards 2,which support at their upper ends a conical hopper 3, upon the upperedge of which is removably fitted a cylindrical casing at, having a lid5. At a suit-able height in said box is provided a horizontal screen 6,upon which, if the device be used for weighing sugar, for instance, thesugar is poured when filling the hopper and easing, thus screening orseparating from the sugar any foreign particles, as thread or the like.In the top of the cover are a suitable number of small apertures 7,covered by screens 8, to permit of ventilation, this being important inwarm climates if the sugar should be damp.

In the bottom of the hopper is supported by vertical plates 9 aconicalshield 10, which shields the valve 11 from the weight of the sugar. Saidvalve is secured upon a stem 12,

sliding in bearings 13 lat in the central vertical web 15 of a spout 16.The shield 10 on account of its conical form, its sides being at anangle of forty-five degrees with the vertical, not only protects thevalve from the weight of the sugar, but also, in conjunction with thehopper, causes the sugar to flow uniformly and steadily down around theedge of the shield. The conical valve 11 is also of advantage inassisting to distribute the sugar in its flow, and it also insures arapid descent of the valve to close the opening when permitted, beingassisted to do so by the weight of the sugar. A still more importantresult arising from this conical form of the valve is that it provides alower edge which strikes the hopper at substantially a right angle, andthis is of great importance in Weighing granular materialsuch as rice,wheat, beans, or the like as it has been found by practice that withthis construction the sharp cutting edge of the valve dropping againstthe hopper so as to make substantially a right angle therewithimmediately cuts in two any grain of such matter which may happen to bebetween the edge of the hopper at the time of its descent. Were this notthe case the valve would be held up slightly, permitting an excess ofmaterial to flow underneath.

It will be observed that the valve-stem and all the operating partsconnected with the movement of the valve are completely inclosed andthat the upper bearing 13 for the valvestem consists partly of an upwardconical extension 17 from the upper surface of the web, which enters asocket in the valve, this extension reaching to such a height as toprotect the stem of the valve from contacting with the falling sugar.This complete in closure of the moving parts is of the greatestimportance in weighing such substances as sugar, for very fine particlesof sugar if admitted to these moving parts will eventually on account oftheir sticky character clog the same and impair the efliciency of theapparatus.

The spout 16 is slightlyconical in form, tapering downward, and having aflaring upper rim 18, which fits within the circular mouth 19 of thehopper and is supported therein by screws 20, screwed through the wallof said mouth underneath said rim. In

the said central web 15 of said spout is formed a vertical slot 21, andbetween said web 15 and the side of the spout, extending at right anglesto the general direction of the web, is a slotted or aperturedconnection 22, through which passes a pin 23, secured to the valve stem12 at right angles thereto. By means of this pin the stem and the valvethereon may be lifted, and to raise the same there is provided a lever24, pivoted upon a bracket 25, secured upon the outside of the spout, sothat by depressing the outer end of said lever the inner end thereof israised and the pin and valve are also raised. This lever is operatedwhen commencing the operation of weighing the sugar or other material ofa granular nature, and by depressing its end the valve is raised,permitting the sugar to flow down through the spout on each side of theweb.

Vhen the valve-stem has reached a certain height, a notch 26, formed inthe side thereof, is engaged by a finger 27, extending from a lever 28,pivoted at 29 on a boss 30, formed on an inner surface of the verticalslot in the web. This lever is bent, as shown at 31, to be pivoted uponsaid boss and to pass around the stem. The pivotal axis of this lever isvertically underneath the point of pressure of the valve on the finger.This is an important feature of the invention, because there is notendency to turn the tripping device due to the weight of the materialupon the valve, for no additional support need be given to the fingeragainst the pressure of, the valve; but said pressure is resisted merelyby the pivot of the lever 28, which carries the finger. There being noresistance to be overcome in operating the trip besides the camlingerand the stem, which acts at right angles to the pressure of the stemupon the finger, the trip can be operated with a minimum amount of forceand is therefore extremely sensitive. The material can thus beautomatically weighed with the utmost accuracy.

Upon an extension from the short end of the lever 28 is carried a weight32, adjustable by being screwed thereon. The tripping mechanism can thusbe rendered more or less sensitive by adjusting the weight 32 tocounterbalance the weight of the lever 28 more or less. The end of thelong arm of the lever passes into a loop 33, secured to the upper end ofa sliding trip-rod 34, having a guide member 35 to prevent it turning,the uppersurface of the lever being notched, as shown at 36, and bearingagainst a point of a screw 37, screwed into the top of said loop toavoid friction. The lower end of the rod passes through a suitable guide38 and is connected to a lower loop 39, which has a sharp knife-edge 79,upon which can rest the flat lower surface of an arm 40 of a scale-beam41, pivoted at 42 upon a support 43, resting upon the base of themachine,through which support passes a stem 44, the lower end of whichis attached by a link 45, pivoted to a plate 46, adjustably secured uponthe under side of a boss 47, formed upon the under surface of thebase 1. Said stem 44 carries at the upper end ascale-pan 48, upon whichthe bag (shown at 49) for containing the material to be weighed isplaced. Said scale-beam carries a counterbalance-weight 50 and also amovable weight 51, which is moved along a graduated scale 52, secured tothe scale-beam. The latter weight when placed at Zero on the scale-beamwill balance the heavy counterbalance-weight at the end of the beam; butas it is moved from Zero along the scalebeam an additional weight isrequired to balance said counterbalance-weight, and this additionalweight is the measure of the material to be weighed. hen said weight 51has been so moved to the desired point, the scale-beam will tilt upwardand the long end of said scalebeam will contact with the upper check-pin53. In the position of the parts at the commencement of the operation ofweighing when the operator has actuated the lever 24, which has raisedthe valve-stem 10, the linger 27 then locking the valve-stem, the lowerloop 39, the rod 34, and the upper loop 33 will all be elevated, asshown in Fig. 5. If now we were to disregard the sugar in transit fromthe spout to the bag, the operation of the device would be as follows:As soon as the amount of sugar in the bag was sutficient, together withthe weight 51, to overcome the weight of the counterbalance the long armof the scalebeam would descend, carrying with it the lower loop, andthereby tiltingthe lever 28 and withdrawing the finger 27 from the notch26 and allowing the valve 11 to descend and close; but owing to the factthat there would still be a certain amount of sugar which would at thetime of closure of the valve have passed the valve and not yet reachedthe bag this weighing would be inaccurate, the amount being in excess,and to remedy this inaccuracy I provide an equalizing or auxiliary lever55, pivoted upon that standard 2 which is next the long arm of thescale-beam, said lever having an arm 56, which bears down upon the longarm of the scale-beam, and also a weight 57, adjustable by means of aplate 58, which engages notches 59 and is clamped in any desiredposition by means of a clamping-screw 60. This weight causes the arm ofthe auxiliary lever to bear down upon the scale-beam with a pressurewhich assists the weight 51 in overcoming the counterbalance-weight,this pressure varying, of course, according to the position of theweight 57 upon the lever 55. It is necessary to vary this pressure onaccount of the fact that different pressures are necessary when weighingdifferent amounts of sugar or other material, because the inertia to beovercome varies and also because the distance through which the materialfalls varies, according to the size and shape of the bag and the amountof material therein. This weight 57 is so adjusted that the scale-beamwill begin to descend before the required amount of sugar is in the bag;but the proper amount will finally be in the bag. The auxiliary lever isgraduated so that it can be set so that the scale will balance exactlywhen the full amount is on the scale-pan which was to be weighed, and itdoes not interfere with the independent action of the scale.

When the scale-beam is at rest in its upper position, it is somedistance above the bottom of the loop 39, so that it falls beforestriking the loop. It thereby gains momentum by its own weight and thatof the auxiliary lever and weight 57, which momentum increases as theweight 57 falls. Thus when the scale-beam strikes the bottom of the loop39 the tripping takes place instantaneously. When the rod 34 and loop 39fall, the loop 39 is clear of the scale-beam, which extends aboutcentrally therethrough, and then indicates the weight of the materialentirely independently of the tripping mechanism. The fall of the lever55 is arrested bya lug 61 thereon striking the under side of the lug 38.

From the end of the scale-beam extends an arm 62 at right anglesthereto, which carries an index-finger 63, which travels over agraduated scale 64, the latter being graduated in fractions of an ounceand the finger indicating by its position centrally of the scale thatthe exact amount of sugar or granular material desired has been weighed.

Upon a rod 65, extending from the base to the edge of the hopper, isadjustably secured by a set-screw 66 a sleeve 67 attached to an arm 68,in which is ad justably mounted a horizontal arm 69, bent down at itsend, said depending portion 70 being centrally bored and carryingtherein a plunger 71, pressed down by a spring 72. In the lower end ofsaid depending portion is secured the end of a piece of wire 73 in theform of a circle, said wire making a complete turn and its end beingthen passed through a transverse slot 7 at in said depending portion andsaid end being then bent or coiled around the first portion of the wire,as shown at 75. The plunger bears down upon the loose end of the wireand holds it in position; but at the same time on account of the coiledend being adapted to be passed to and fro on the fixed end the circleformed by the wire can be enlarged or diminished, as required. Thispiece of wire is thus held firmly in position as a bag-holder, and theupper edge of the bag is placed around the same, thus upholding the bagwhile it is being filled. Until the bag is filled with sugar to thedesired amount it is on a higher level than when it has been filled onaccount of its rising and falling with the long arm of the scale-beam.WVhen the bag has been filled, the upper edge of the bag drops downbelow the bag-holder, so that it can readily be removed sidewise.

77 is a screw screwed through the finger 27, which bears against theside of the stem when the finger 2'7 is moved upward by means of thelever 24:, thus saving wear upon the end of the trigger-finger 27.

I claim 1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combinationof a hopper, a spout secured in the mouth of the hopper, upper and lowerbearings in said spout, a valve having a vertical stem sliding in saidbearings and being conical in form and formed with a sharp lower edgeadapted to strike the surface of the hopper at substantially a rightangle and to cut into two any granular material caught therebetween, anda conical shield supported upon the hopper above the valve,substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ahopper, a spout depending therefrom having a central web, a valve, astem therefor, upper and lower bearings in the web for the stem and atripping device engaging said stem between the upper and lower bearings,substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ahopper, a spout depending therefrom having a vertical web, said webhaving a vertical slot, a valve, a vertically-sliding stem thereforpassing across said slot, a lever passing horizontally through saidslot, and a device operated by said lever and engaging said stem torelease the same to close the valve, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ahopper having a spout depending therefrom and having a vertical webformed with a vertical slot, an aper-. tured connection between the weband the side of the spout, a valve, a stem therefor passing verticallythrough said slot, and means passing through said apertured connectionfor raising the valve, substantially as described. 5. In an apparatus ofthe character described, the combination of a hopper having a spoutdepending therefrom and having a vertical web formed with a verticalslot, an apertured connection between the web and the side of the spout,a valve, a stem therefor passing vertically through said slot, a pinsecured to the stem and passing through said apertured connection, andmeans on the outside of the spout for raising the pin, substantially asdescribed.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ahopper having a spout depending therefrom, said spout having a verticalweb with a vertical slot therein, a valve, a vertically-slidingvalve-stem passing through said slot, and having a notch formed in theside thereof, a horizontally-extending lever, a finger carried upon saidlever and adapted to engage said notch, and means operated by the weightof the material being weighed for actuating said lever to withdraw saidfinger, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ahopper having a spout depending therefrom, said spout having a verticalweb with a vertical slot therein, a valve, a vertically-slidingvalve-stem passing through said slot, and having a notch formed in theside thereof, a horizontally-extending lever, a finger carried upon saidlever and adapted to engage said notch, a weight carried by said lever,means for adjusting the weight upon the lever, and means operated by theweight of the material being weighed for actuating said lever towithdraw said finger, substantially as described.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of avalve, adapted to arrest the descent of the material, a stem thereforhaving a notch, a lever, a finger carried by said lever and adapted toengage said notch, means operated by the descent of the material foractuating the lever to withdraw the finger, and a weight adjustablycarried upon the lever, substantially as described.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of avalve, adapted to arrest the descent of the material, a stem thereforhaving a notch, a lever, a finger carried by said lever and adapted toengage said notch, means carried by said finger for maintaining the endof the finger out of contact with the stem when said end is above thenotch, means operated by the descent of the material for actuating thelever to withdraw the finger, and a weight adjustably carried upon thelever, substantially as described.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of avalve adapted to arrest the descent of the material, a valvestem, atripping mechanism engaging said valve-stem comprising a lever, avertical rod operatively connected with said lever, a scalebeam having acounterbalance-weight on the opposite side to the scale-pan, the longarm of the lever being on the same side as the scalepan and beinggraduated, a movable weight on said long arm, the long arm of the leverbeing operatively connected to the vertical rod to draw the same downwhen the weight on the scale-pan together with the movable weightovercomes the counterbalance weight, substantially as described.

11. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ascale-beam, a counterbalance-weight upon the short arm, a scale-pansupported by the long arm, upper an l lower check-pins between which thescalebeam oscillates, avertically-movingrod adapted to be engaged by thescale-beam to draw it downward, a valve controlling the descent of thematerial to be weighed, a tripping device controlling the movement ofsaid valve, and an operative connection between said tripping device andvertical rod whereby the downward movement of the rod operates thetripping device to release the valve, substantially as described.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ascale-beam arranged to descend when the proper amount is weighed, fixedcheck-pins between which the end of the scale-beam oscillates, avertically moving rod having a loop through which the end of thescale-beam passes, a valve controlling the descent of the material, anda tripping device for said valve operatively connected with the upperend of the rod to release the valve when the rod descends, substantiallyas described.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ascale-beam arranged to descend when the proper amount is weighed, fixedcheck-pins between which the end of the scale-beam oscillates, averticallymoving rod having a loop through which the end of thescale-beam passes, a valve controlling the descent of the material, anequalizinglever bearing down upon the long arm of the scale-beam tostart the descent of the scalebeam and close the valve before the fullamount has fallen on to the scale-pan, and a tripping device for saidvalve operatively connected with the upper end of the rod to release thevalve when the rod descends, substantially as described.

14:. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ascale-beam arranged to descend when the proper amount is weighed, fixedcheck-pins between which the end of the scale-beam oscillates, averticallymoving rod having a loop through which the end of thescale-beam passes, a valve controlling the descent of the material, anequalizing lever bearing down upon the long arm of the scale-beam tostart the descent of the scalebeam and close the valve before the fullamount has fallen on to the scale-pan, a weight carried by said leverand means for adjusting the weight upon the lever, and a tripping devicefor said valve operatively connected with the upper end of the rod torelease the valve when the rod descends, substantially as described.

15. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ascale-beam arranged to descend when the proper amount is weighed, afinger carried by the scale-beam, a graduated scale over which saidfinger travels, fixed check-pins between which the end of the scale-beamoscillates, a vertically-moving rod having a loop through which the endof the scale-beam passes, a valve controlling the dcseent of thematerial, and a tripping device for said valve operatively connectedwith the upper end of the rod to release the valve when the roddescends, substantially as described.

16. In a weighing-machine, the combination of a weighingpan, a hopperdischarging thereover, a gate for closing the discharge from the hopper,a tripping mechanism for controlling said gate, a rod suspended fromsaid tripping mechanism, a device, moving with the pan, in proximity towhich the rod passes,

and a stop on said rod against which said device impinges in itsmovement With the descent of the pan to operate the tripping mechanismand permit the gate to close, substantially as described.

17. In a Weighing-machine, the combination of a Weighing-pan, a hopperhaving a chute, a gate closing said chute, means, located partly Withinthe chute, operated by the movement of the pan for controlling saidgate, and means for inclosing the portion of said means Within the chutefrom contact with the material falling through said chute, substantiallyas described.

18. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of ahopper, a chute, a gate for closing said chute, a scale, means operatedthereby for controlling said gate, said means comprising a fingerholding the gate open and pivoted in a line vertically below the pointof pressure on the finger from the gate, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

FRANK F. WEAR.

Witnesses:

FRANoIs M. WRIGHT, BESSIE GORFINKEL.

